


We're Only Human, After All

by PunishedPyotr



Category: Metal Gear
Genre: Africa, Fluff, Liquid's love is his drug, M/M, Mantis is kind of high in this, Outdoor Sex, and he gets his fix, reupload
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-05
Updated: 2018-02-05
Packaged: 2019-03-14 09:27:19
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13587183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PunishedPyotr/pseuds/PunishedPyotr
Summary: Mantis felt it too, when he read his mind - an almost physical sensation, a warmth that came from somewhere in his chest instead of the late evening air. It was nice. It was pleasant and relaxing. It was… intoxicating, in fact.





	We're Only Human, After All

**Author's Note:**

> (original author's note says that this fic was basically a request to a commenter on the original as you say, but aireyv said that that person took the gift tag off of the fics written for them like six months before the doxx....... rude)

199X, Central Africa.

 Some years ago they’d parted ways. Mantis had joined the KGB until the Soviet Union fell, then the FBI until he got kicked out over the whole ‘serial killer personality absorption’ incident, and was now aimlessly working as a spy for anyone who had the money; Liquid Snake had been in the SAS and the SIS but after spending three, almost four years in a POW camp after the Gulf War had told the British government to go fuck itself and was now just another mercenary operating in the Middle East and North Africa, occasionally going further south if that’s where the clients demanded.

 Although tonight he was driving south for a different reason. And that reason would be… Mantis, who was lazily sprawled out in the passenger seat with his feet up on the dashboard. He frequently visited Liquid wherever he was, as often as he could (which, frustratingly, only averaged out to about once a month, although it was _much_ better than the three-almost-four years he’d spent not even knowing if Liquid was alive or dead), and it so happened that his next job offer was in Luanda. And he had met up with Liquid in Bétou this time, since he had just finished a job in the north of the Republic of the Congo, and it was a few days’ drive from Bétou to Luanda, so Liquid had offered to take him.

 Mantis knew, of course, that Liquid’s whole reason to offer (read: insist on) this was because he was practically desperate to spend a few days with Mantis where their meetings with each other nowadays usually only lasted a couple hours, at the most. Of course Liquid didn’t admit to that even though he knew damn well Mantis could see his real feelings in his mind. No, he just gave some dismissive excuse about how the Angolan Civil War was still going on (although currently there was a fragile period of peace) and given his experience with the area and the language and the conflict itself, he’d easily find his next meal ticket there.

 Which, Mantis supposed, was true. If nothing else, he figured his contact in Luanda might also be in need of a bodyguard or assassin, if they were willing to pay that much for a psychic spy. It _would_ be nice to have a job together for once.

 The sun was going down and the headlights on Liquid’s cheap, souped up, slightly bulletholed Jeep were shattered - and had been for “some time,” apparently - so Liquid stopped the car for the night (he couldn’t exactly pull over when they weren’t exactly on a road to begin with), and that was where they were now. A grassy hill somewhere, with a few sparse clusters of trees and no one around for miles and miles. Liquid was kicked back in the back seat, eating his dinner - a ration he didn’t remember where exactly he’d gotten it that was nearing its expiration date - and Mantis was still sitting in the passenger seat, reflecting humorlessly on the fact that the brilliant orange sunset would have probably been a lot prettier without the yellow tint the lenses of his gas mask gave everything.

 The only sounds were bugs and frogs and occasionally some other animal, the ticking of the cooling engine, and the slow hiss of breath through Mantis’ mask. Liquid was quiet; Mantis didn’t say anything, either. The relative silence was comfortable… if boring. Mantis moved to the back seat, next to Liquid, who scooted over for him after giving him a curious look.

 “…have you eaten lately?”

 “Not this again…”

 Liquid shrugged. “You’ll die if you don’t eat, you know. Eventually.”

 “And you will get heatstroke from driving around Africa without a shirt on, eventually. What is your point?”

 Liquid scoffed. It _was_ hot, but the nighttime coolness was starting to settle in and the earlier heat of the day was only a lingering warmth now, a sultriness that seemed to come more from the earth itself than the huge, red sun idling on the horizon. It was the perfect temperature for sleeping in the back of a rundown, roofless Jeep, under the stars that were just starting to come out. (Or, in Mantis’ case, reading a book while listening to Liquid ramble like an idiot in his sleep. Mantis didn’t didn’t need much of the stuff himself.)

 “It’s nice out tonight,” Liquid said, stretching.

 “A nice view, too,” Mantis agreed, looking at the mountains in the distance.

 “Yes, very nice.” Except Liquid wasn’t looking at the landscape, he was looking at Mantis and his tight _tight_ leather pants, combat boots, buckled collar, and close-fitting black shirt that bore his midriff and his shoulders; he was exasperated by the fact that Mantis 100% dressed like someone incredibly kinky but was never not offended by people taking him for that, since Mantis didn’t dress this way because he thought it made him look sexy, but simply because he liked the look. Liquid didn’t understand Mantis’ aesthetic and thought he looked sexy anyway, honestly-

 Mantis gave him an annoyed look, and Liquid realized where his thoughts had been with an embarrassed cough.

 “I don’t know where that came from,” he said, balling up the ration wrapper and tossing it to the front of the car to be thrown away later.

 “Hm.”

 There was an awkward pause. Mantis wondered if he should just let Liquid have his mind to himself for a while as he scrambled to come up with an excuse, then gave up in the hopes that just ignoring his little slip-up would make things less awkward.

 That was what they always did. Both were keenly aware of Liquid’s longtime infatuation with Mantis, but they never discussed it - it wasn’t even until Mantis had reached adulthood that he realized that Liquid’s feelings for him included something _other_ than friendship, since friendship itself had been new to him, too. And for Liquid’s part, he did his best to squash down those feelings since he was sure Mantis would be repulsed by them if he noticed them, and because he figured they didn’t have any more meaning than the inevitable result of having such a deep bond with one person and not being even remotely close to anyone else.

 To be honest, Mantis didn’t have any major problems with Liquid pining after him the way he did. Mostly because it was _Liquid_ , and Mantis cared for him as deeply as he did him; it was true that Mantis was out of his comfort zone here, and he did feel sort of degraded whenever Liquid’s eyes and thoughts started to wander, but when other people found Mantis attractive Mantis found that disgusting and vaguely threatening and when Liquid did it Mantis could easily forgive him because, well… it was Eli.

 Plus there was one other reason.

 “What am I going to do with you?” Mantis sighed, leaning his head on Liquid’s shoulder. Liquid swallowed audibly but didn’t say anything.

 It was half a minute before Liquid got over his flustration and Mantis got what he was angling for: Liquid allowing himself to actually _feel_ the affection he had for Mantis. Mantis felt it too, when he read his mind - an almost physical sensation, a warmth that came from somewhere in his chest instead of the late evening air. It was nice. It was pleasant and relaxing. It was… intoxicating, in fact; when Liquid was feeling particularly fond of him, Mantis always found it hard to concentrate on anything besides his endearment. (Fortunately, Liquid’s “ _God_ I love him” moments never came when they were in a situation where Mantis needed to focus on anything in particular.)

 “Tired?” Liquid said. As much as he knew Mantis better than anyone else, he still tended to misinterpret his actions whenever he did something even mildly unexpected or impulsive. Mantis rolled his eyes.

 “Shh. You’re ruining the moment.”

 “What moment?”

 There was another awkward pause. _Are… are we having a moment?_ Liquid thought, and in his surprise and confusion the warm fluffy feelings dried up.

 “You’re overthinking things,” Mantis told him, sitting up.

 “I…” Liquid blinked. “I’m sorry, Mantis. I don’t know what’s gotten into me tonight.”

 In response, Mantis threw his arms around him and buried his head in Liquid’s shoulder.

 “!”

 It occurred to Mantis that he hadn’t spent this much time with him since Liquid had been in the hospital for a while after being recovered from Iraq.

 “Mantis- what’s gotten into _you?_ ”

 “…I missed you.”

 “It hasn’t been _that_ long. We saw each other six weeks ago, in Setif, remember?”

 “That was not what I meant.”

 “…” Liquid gave up on trying to figure out what Mantis did mean and contented himself with the rare opportunity of hugging Mantis back. That suited Mantis just fine. Honestly, he was just trying to bait Liquid into feeling that rush of affection for him again because Mantis was half-sure he was addicted to it.

 It would probably - scratch that, _definitely_ \- be unethical to escalate the situation so that Liquid would feel more strongly. Mantis was not an ethical man, though.

 “Liquid… you know I’m not as oblivious as you seem to think I am.”

 “…w-what?”

 “Your feelings for me.”

 “…”

 Mantis drew back, his arms still around Liquid’s shoulders. Liquid’s face was red. “Did you really think I did not notice?”

 “I thought you would have _said_ something if you had,” Liquid said defensively.

 “How could I not? You’re not subtle. You’ve never _been_ subtle. I don’t even need to read your mind to know how you feel about me.”

 Liquid was looking _anywhere_ besides Mantis, although he hadn’t moved his arms from where they were loosely wrapped around Mantis’ waist.

 “Which, by the way, _I can read your mind_. You can’t hide _anything_ from _me_ , idiot.”

 “You didn’t say anything,” Liquid said, flustered again, much more than before. He was expecting a harangue about romance now…

 “I am fine with it.”

 “What- what, seriously? You are?”

 “Of course I am. If it’s you, anyway…”

 Liquid licked his lips nervously. “Oh,” he said. He was still flushed.

 Mantis leaned into him again, tucking himself away against his bare chest - his skin was still hot from being under the sun all day. “Don’t suppress your feelings for me anymore.”

  _I’m dreaming, right?_ Liquid thought. _I have to be._

 “No,” Mantis said. “You are not dreaming. And I am being serious.”

 Liquid gave a strange little laugh. “Well, alright then. If you insist.”

 “Mm.”

 The comfortable silence returned. Liquid hesitated long enough that he was sure Mantis had picked up on his intentions and decided to not react to them, then pressed his lips to the top of Mantis’ head.

 Mantis’ breath hitched. The low heat in his chest had returned, and Liquid’s emotions - a grab bag of relief, embarrassment, mild bemusement, gratification, and abiding attachment to Mantis - were running hot enough that Mantis was starting to feel a touch light-headed. It wasn’t unpleasant, though, not at all. Not at _all_.

 Liquid knew Mantis well enough to know that the change in his breathing hadn’t meant anything was wrong with this picture. He splayed a hand against Mantis’ lower back, warm against his skin, easily pulling him onto his lap - Mantis was taller than Liquid, so hiding with his gas mask pressed against his neck wasn’t an option anymore. Mantis looked up at the sky - it was dark now, the last bit of light slipping over the west horizon, and the stars were twinkling into view - and Liquid kissed his throat, not out of any particular amorous intention, just because he wanted desperately to kiss him and his face and lips were locked away behind plastic and silicone rubber.

 “We should have had this talk sooner,” he said softly.

 “I shouldn’t have to outline the obvious for you, Liquid.”

 Liquid smiled ruefully. “I know. Inferior intelligence - I’m aware of it, thank you.”

 “Don’t say that,” Mantis said, taking Liquid’s face in his hands, “you might be a fool but you are still much brighter than the _rest_ of the blight on the Earth that is humanity.”

 “In your opinion, Mantis.”

 “It is the only one that matters.”

 Liquid decided not to argue, although he didn’t agree. Instead he laid back, the bloodstained faux-leather of the back seat creaking as he did. Mantis was on top of him, sitting on his thighs, one leg dangling over the edge of the seat, hands resting on either side of Liquid’s head - Liquid kissed his neck again, hands still around Mantis’ waist, and while it’d be a lie to say he wasn’t getting any ideas here his only real intention was to fall asleep with the weight of his best friend, his bonded partner, his other half, his _soulmate_ comfortably against his body.

  _How chaste of him_ , Mantis thought dryly. Then again, if Liquid was repressed, that was certainly Mantis’ fault - he’d practically browbeat him into a vow of absolute celibacy back when they were teenagers because he hadn’t yet figured out how to shut Liquid’s harebrained fantasies out of his mind. Liquid’s sexual development had probably gone to a weird place after that, but Mantis had never prodded around that part of his brain and never felt the need to apologize for it, either.

 Then again, Mantis realized as he felt Liquid absent-mindedly run his fingers over a burn scar on his back, if he played to those harebrained fantasies of his, he’d probably be rewarded with more affection.

 Sometimes their psychic bond _really_ messed with his judgement.

 Mantis nuzzled him, tangling his fingers into long blonde hair, pressing himself closer and feeling Liquid’s hands tense against his skin. Liquid took a deep breath. “Mantis…”

 He was starting to grow genuinely dizzy from the warmth that washed over him, traveling up his spine from Liquid’s hands like little electric shocks. It was hard to think - hard to see anything outside of this moment in the backseat of a half-broken Jeep. Mantis shifted languidly, and Liquid drew in a quick breath, some _other_ feeling coloring his emotions now.

 It felt _great_.

 “How do you stand it?” Mantis breathed, propping himself up on his elbows and looking down at Liquid. “This tension…”

 “I, ah…” Liquid let go of him, reaching halfway up to Mantis’ face. Mantis didn’t move to intercept, and after a breathless second, Liquid started unlatching the straps of Mantis’ gas mask. He pulled it off, his movements halting and almost shy, and placed it on the floor of the car, his eyes never leaving Mantis’.

 Mantis was already attuned to Liquid’s mind but it was so much more _intense_ now - it was like a black and white image suddenly switching over to color, not just color but a wider color spectrum than humans could see, like eyes suddenly adjusting to infrared and ultraviolet and the whole world seemed to spin. Mantis made some pathetic noise in his throat, and it almost sounded pleading, and he felt Liquid’s hands on either side of his head and he kissed him on the mouth, softly, and there was such a great, heady surge of love and gratification that Mantis almost thought he was going to pass out.

 Liquid pulled back a fraction of an inch then kissed him again, and again, and the fourth time Mantis parted his lips for him and the kiss lasted longer, then again, and then it was deeper and Liquid’s tongue was in his mouth and oh God what was Mantis getting himself into. What the hell was he doing. He could taste Liquid’s nearly-expired ration and when Liquid drew back again a thin string of saliva connected their mouths for half a second and that was _disgusting_ but Mantis’ head was swimming and it was hard to care about that…

 “I love you,” Liquid murmured, running one hand through Mantis’ hair (a few strands came away in his fingers, but neither of them paid it any mind), “so much.”

  _More_ , Mantis told him.

 Liquid kissed him yet again, his arms returning to his middle, his hands clutching at him possessively - and it _was_ possessive, certainly, there was no question about that, but there was an undercurrent of _And I’m his_ , _And I belong to him_ , a backbeat of devotion that made heat pool in Mantis’ stomach. He kissed back hungrily, pulling at Liquid’s hair, chasing his high.

 Liquid pulled back again, blushing and breathing hard. He was torn between something he’d been dreaming about since he was twelve finally coming to pass, and asking Mantis why he was acting like this and risking breaking the spell. “Mantis,” he said, not having decided what he’d say after that.

 “Shut up,” Mantis said.

 “But- aren’t you-“

 “Don’t think,” Mantis said, pulling his hair to tilt his head back and kissing his jaw - Liquid made a breathy little sound- “Make love to me, Eli. Do whatever you want. Just _love me_.”

 “M-Mantis…”

 Mantis kissed him again, and Liquid groaned, moving one hand down to cup the back of Mantis’ thigh, just under his ass, pulling him closer like he couldn’t physically get close enough.

 “Mantis, I love you…”

 “Mmmm.”

 He shifted his hips restlessly under Mantis, his throat moving against Mantis’ lips as he swallowed hard. “I know it doesn’t mean anything, but I don’t care, I love you. I’ve loved you for so long- I’ll always love you, you know that, don’t you?”

 “Of course I do,” Mantis said.

 “Oh, God…” His mind was almost as clouded with excitement as Mantis’ was with vinous warmth. He was almost shivering, even though the night wasn’t remotely cold and Liquid had never been one to be affected by temperature - then Mantis felt the stiffness where Liquid’s crotch was pressed against him, and understood with an unpleasant jolt that was softened by his current dazed, distracted state of mind.

 Mantis thought that maybe they should stop here, before it went any further, before he had to see too much of Liquid’s atavistic desire for sex - he didn’t want to see Liquid that way, it was base and lowly and sordid and Mantis actually _liked_ him - but he knew that if he stopped Liquid now then he wasn’t going to be feeling anything other than disappointed and frustrated and Mantis would be left cold.

 And Liquid was a creature of instinct anyway, there was no denying that. He was only following his urge - his _need_ \- for friction and the taste of Mantis’ skin. Mantis unintentionally made a confused noise at Liquid’s mouth on his collarbone. He couldn’t stop this now but maybe he could just ignore the bodily side of it and focus on Liquid’s mind - not a hard thing to do when he couldn’t shut it out now if he tried and he heard his own name echoing in it with every beat of his heart, _MantisMantisMantisMantis_ and he was so in love with him.

 “A-Agh, Eli…”

 “Hn?”

 “I… just- keep going.”

 Liquid had no idea what he was doing. Male instinct was pretty limited to ‘find a hole and leave your seed in it’, and everything else he knew came from trashy novels where the sex scenes were physically implausible if not impossible, or so overwrought and flowery that it wasn’t clear what was going on, or both. He never even participated in raunchy ‘guy talk’ because he didn’t want it to come out that he was a virgin.

  _This is just as well_ , decided Mantis. It meant that, for now at least, Liquid was restricted to just kissing - mouth, cheeks, neck, shoulders, no rhyme or reason - and roaming his hands over Mantis’ body, leaving a weird kind of tingling where they passed over exposed skin. Like this, it was… tolerable, Liquid’s erection aside.

 But _Liquid_ didn’t want to just ignore his erection, and he was getting bolder now, more desperate, grinding up into Mantis and moaning against his throat. Mantis’ stomach did a weird little flip at the persistent rubbing at his groin.

 It probably would have been better to go with the falling-asleep-together plan back when he had the chance, but Liquid’s arousal fed into the devotion that Mantis was hungrily leeching off of, and honest to God it felt better than anything Mantis had ever before experienced. If he thought it was addictive and intoxicating _before_ , it had nothing on _now_.

 And besides, as stupid and sentimental as it was - Mantis drew a breath in through his teeth as one hand slipped up his shirt - there was something to be said about the simple closeness of the act. It was hard for him to accuse Liquid of being selfish for doing this to him when his every thought was of Mantis and his every desire was to figure out how to coax some expression of pleasure out of him. (True, if he managed to reduce Mantis to whimpering desperation he would be getting off on it, undoubtedly, but Mantis was the one who got himself into this mess because he wanted to use Liquid’s emotions for his _own_ pleasure, so who was the selfish one now? Sometimes Mantis really was a wretched hypocrite.)

 “Eli,” Mantis said as Liquid pushed his shirt up to bare his chest to the humid night.

 “Hm?”

 “I don’t… understand.”

 Liquid kissed him again. “Don’t understand what?”

 “Why you feel this way.”

 “Why wouldn’t I?” He traced a finger over the scars on Mantis’ cheek. “I don’t have anyone else, and we’ve been together for so long…”

 Mantis rested his forehead against Liquid’s clavicles. “I left you. I said I didn’t need you anymore.”

 “Mantis, that wasn’t-“

 “I was wrong.”

 “…” Liquid ran his hand over Mantis’ hair, smoothing down where it stuck up from having straps buried in it day in and day out. “That’s… good to know.”

 “Mph.”

 He slipped his fingers under Mantis’ chin and raised his head to kiss him again. “Or did you mean,” he whispered, “why do you turn me on so much?”

 “That is a good question as well,” Mantis said breathlessly. He was deathly thin and mutilated; Liquid could do better, if he wanted to.

 Liquid kissed the scars on his forehead. He kept brushing Mantis’ hair with one hand, the other one grabbing his ass and pressing him against himself. “I _love_ you.” Mantis groaned in response, almost overwhelmed by emotion and the heat under his skin. It was hard to breathe, so hard to think.

 It was the kind of euphoria that could ruin anyone.

 And maybe it was because of that, or just a visceral response - a result of a detested and long-buried biological imperative - but Mantis was growling steadily aware of a distant, confused sensation of his penis swelling with blood. He was so caught up in his psychic high that he wouldn’t have even noticed if Liquid didn’t, if he wasn’t feeling such a smug delight at Mantis’ physical reaction, smirking against his lips and sliding one finger between his hip and the waistband of his pants, peeling leather away from flesh.

 “Ah… agh…”

 He shuddered, gasping, as he felt Liquid’s fingers around his cock. His hips jerked involuntarily, and Liquid was enjoying this _way_ too much and it was starting to get distracting. He dug his nails into his scalp, and Liquid hissed.

 “You smug… insufferable… little…”

 “You could just admit that you’re enjoying this too,” Liquid said, lifting Mantis up by his hips so that he had to support himself with arms braced against the Jeep door. He kept stroking Mantis’ dick - Mantis closed his eyes tightly, and colors spun around behind his eyelids - and ran his tongue over a long scar on Mantis’ chest before stopping and sucking on his nipple instead.

 “You- ah, I don’t- mgh, Eli… you did this to me…”

  _You started it_ , Liquid retorted mentally since his mouth was occupied.

  _You’re a whore_ , Mantis spoke into his brain. Liquid made an appreciative noise, and Mantis felt his dick twitch through his pants. _What, you like that?_

  _Like what?_

  _You like me calling you the selfish little slut you are_ \- Mantis gasped again at the same time Liquid made another grateful moan as Liquid’s pleasure spiked. _You_ do, _you deviant._

 Liquid finally pulled his mouth off him. “Do you have any idea,” he said, breathing hard, “how often I’ve fantasized about you fucking me while calling me a selfish, disgusting pervert?”

  _I’d rather not think about it_ , Mantis thought, eyes still shut tight. His arms were shaking.

 “Take responsibility, why don’t you…”

 Liquid’s hand resumed working, and Mantis gave up, collapsing against Liquid’s chest again. He felt so lost in the moment. He felt Liquid kissing the side of his face, and he thrust into his touch helplessly, liking the way it felt and hating the fact that he liked it. Liquid tilted his head back and moaned loudly and immodestly at the movement - it was a good thing there was no one around.

 With his free hand Liquid undid his belt and his fly - his hand was moving quickly but he kept fumbling and it took him a bit - and he rubbed his now-freed cock against Mantis’, groaning again and shivering, his sort-of composure completely shattered. “Oh god… ha… M-Mantis…”

 Mantis was pretty sure he was going to drown in Liquid’s passion and literally die. It was a hell of a way to go, though.

 “Eli…”

 "I love you,” Liquid said, his voice a breathy growl, struggling to regain some semblance of dominance and suave self-control. He couldn’t. He ground against Mantis, the head of his cock rubbing against his stomach, the fingers of one hand wrapped around Mantis’ dick and moving with clumsy, distracted jerks. His other hand was squeezing Mantis’ hip, nails digging in. A lucid, very distant part of Mantis’ mind wondered how many bruises he was going to come away from this with. Liquid was just panting and moaning, his hips bucking rapidly and spasmodically. It was almost pathetic, but he had such an overpowering love for Mantis…

  _Eli_ , Mantis thought, putting a hand over Liquid’s. _Eli, please_. His hand was so rough, and so warm, and Mantis’ dick was so sensitive-

  _Eli please this is too much_

 “Mantis,” Liquid groaned, “can’t you just-“ _Endure it_ , was the rest of the sentence, but Mantis answered him before the words came out of his mouth, using his psychokinesis to force Liquid’s hands away from him and immobilize them against the seat, and at the same time drew his knee up, half-standing, lifting himself away from Liquid and breaking contact. He kept his balance by pressing his hands flat against Liquid’s chest.

 Liquid whined, raising his hips uncomfortably. “M-Mantis…”

 Mantis shook his head, trying to clear it. Liquid’s thoughts had taken on a different tone, different but no less dazing, comparable to a pleasant hum dropping in timbre. It was reverberating between them, a note of desperation and urgency. Mantis felt like he was burning up.

 “Mantis, oh god, please-“

  _Can’t you just finish yourself off later?_ Mantis asked him, still breathing too hard to properly talk. _Is that not an option?_

 “N-No,” Liquid said, his eyes wide, “please, Mantis, I want it to be you. Please.”

 He already knew that, of course - knew it had to be him - and he knew he himself was already past the point of no return here too, that if he stopped now he was going to be in pain later - he just wanted to gauge Liquid’s desperation, which spiked when Mantis broached the subject of leaving him high and dry. At some point his primary concern had shifted away from Mantis and towards relieving the unbearable throbbing pressure in his crotch.

 “Selfish,” Mantis murmured, lowering his head and pressing his face against Liquid’s neck. Liquid whimpered in response, repositioning his legs in uneasy tension.

 “Please,” he whispered.

 Mantis took pity on him and on himself, sitting again on Liquid’s lap and rubbing their erections together, taking in a shuddering breath as he did. Liquid whimpered again - Mantis allowed him to move his hands again, and as horribly distracted as Liquid was, he got the picture and simply wrapped his arms around Mantis’ trunk instead of touching his cock again, allowing Mantis to dictate the pace now: slow, languid, barely touching and teasing. Liquid pressed his mouth against the top of Mantis’ head, making low pleading sounds in his throat.

 Liquid moved one of his legs, working it between Mantis’ thighs and rubbing against him, and a choked little noise came out of Mantis at the overstimulation, and he forced himself a little harder against Liquid’s body, giving Liquid what he wanted- and Liquid was being loud again, practically shouting “oh, god, _Mantis,_ ” up at the night sky, while Mantis’ whole being was being flooded with his out-of-control emotions, threatening to sweep him away. At this point, no, even before this point he didn’t _care_ if that happened, if this night lasted forever he would be happy with that, because _God_ it just felt so _good_.

 Then Liquid reached his climax, screaming, tensing, his back arching, and his feelings intensified so much that Mantis blacked out.

 ... 

 He came to. He was spent already, and curled, panting and shivering, against Liquid’s chest. He still felt dizzy and hazy-minded - Liquid’s affection was as strong as before, but lighter now, less suffocating. There was some concern in there, too, as Liquid stroked Mantis’ hair.

 “Are you alright?” he said, still breathless, “you kind of… seized up for a few seconds there. Was that a little much?”

 “Ghh…”

 Liquid rested his chin on the top of his head. “Well, _I_ had fun. Thank you.”

 Was thanking people after sex a normal thing, or just something people did in his terrible romance novels…? _Заткнись_ , Mantis thought.

 “Tired?”

  _Да…_

 “So am I,” Liquid yawned. He blinked sleepily up at the Milky Way, spread out in the dark, hot sky above, dimmed only slightly by the bright gray light of the moon. “What a lovely night.”

* * *

 When Mantis woke up again, the sun was up and the car was moving. He sat up quickly, nearly falling off the back seat.

 “Oh, you’re up?” Liquid said from behind the wheel. “We’ve just passed the Reserve de chasse de la Lefini. You were sleeping so soundly, I didn’t want to wake you.” Mantis could hear the grin in his voice. He was in very high spirits this morning, and practically radiating camaraderie. “We’ll be through Kinshasa in a few hours, unless you’d rather go by the coast.”

 “Kinshasa’s fine,” Mantis mumbled, rubbing his eyes with his hands and dimly noting that Liquid had cleaned him up and fixed his clothes while he was sleeping. That was good. The less reminders he had of what he’d let Liquid do to him - what _he’d_ done - last night, the better.

 “Your mask is still on the floor, lover.”

 Mantis put it back on, actually quite glad to not have to listen to Liquid’s thoughts and feelings anymore. “Do not call me that.”

 “Oh.” His voice was suddenly flat.

 “…” Mantis sighed. “You should have expected that.”

 “I know. I did, I mean.”

 “I… am disgusted with myself, Liquid. Less so with you. Mostly with myself.”

 Liquid didn’t say anything. Mantis saw his hands tighten on the steering wheel.

 “It will not happen again,” Mantis told him.

 “I know,” Liquid said again.

 Mantis rubbed the back of his neck. This was… painfully awkward. “But,” he said, then cut himself off, then forced himself to continue, “I suppose, since it was with you, it wasn’t… so bad.”

 “…oh?”

 “I lost control of myself… I can accept doing that in front of you. If it had been anyone else who had- made me… feel that way, I would have…” he trailed off, then gave Liquid a very vivid mental image of a praying mantis ripping her mate’s head off.

 Liquid laughed shortly. “I see.”

 There was a long pause. Mantis relaxed, eventually. “What a repulsive instinct,” he said, in his usual disdainful tone. “When we get to Kinshasa, Liquid, there is something I’d like you to buy for me, since I detest going into those sorts of shops myself.”

 “Those sorts of shops? …what do you want?”

 “A cock ring.”

 Liquid slammed the brakes.

**Author's Note:**

> Mantis' line in Russian is just telling Liquid to shut the hell up.
> 
> I did, um, a bit of research into African geography and conflicts in the mid-nineties just to include esoteric references as incidental information in a smutfic. Wow. Why do I always do this?  
> Liquid having "a job" in the Republic of the Congo refers to instability in the region leading up to their civil war in 1997; referring to the Angolan Civil War as being in a "fragile period of peace" refers to a ceasefire that lasted from 1994 to 1998, and yes, I am fairly certain that it was the Angolan Civil War that he was involved in as a child soldier; Setif is referenced because the Algerian Civil War lasted from 1991 to 2002.  
> The Reserve de chasse de la Lefini is, by my reckoning using Google Maps, about half a day's drive from Bétou, as the crow flies.
> 
> Also I'm sorry for ending a fic with a punchline instead of a Real Ending™ again.
> 
> (any and all comments will be forewarded to aireyv! i will either copy/paste their reply to me or they will reply on their own account! have a nice day!!! if you have any questions, just ask!!!!)


End file.
